CAIRO, 11 June 2004 — The Saudi bourse dipped one percent in the trading week that ended yesterday, after surging 10.6 percent the previous week, while other Middle Eastern markets were generally firmer. The TASI index dropped to 5,602.51 points 5,657.98 last week. The index is still 26.3 percent higher than at the beginning of the year. Bakheet Financial Advisors said that much of the decline was due to a 6.5 percent fall by shares in Saudi Electricity Co. amid heavy speculative trade.
In Beirut, the BLOM index advanced to 613.21 points from 599.06, a gain of 2.3 percent, after surging 10.3 percent the previous week.
In Kuwait, the second-largest regional market after the Saudi one, the KSE index edged 0.5 percent higher to 5,343.00 points from 5,316.20. Oman’s MSM rose 2.4 percent to 3,291.84 points from 3,214.34.
Elsewhere in the Gulf, the NBAD index in the United Arab Emirates edged up to 5,158.09 points from 5,089.7, Bahrain’s BSE picked up 0.4 percent to 2,455.02 from 2,465.92 and Qatar’s CBQ also added 0.4 percent to 983.89.
In Amman, the ASE index jumped 3.1 percent to 2,795.30 points from 2,710.01. The Palestinian Al-Quds index ended at 174.52 points, down from 175.98, while Israel’s TA-100 closed 576.67 points, virtually unchanged from 576.80. In Egypt, the HFI put on 1.3 percent to 14,715.20 points from 14,518.41 on the back of demand for telecoms shares. Tehran’s TSE rose 2.2 percent to 11,860.24 points from 11.602.70.